Canadian Air Force looking for bombs with ‘less bang’

OTTAWA — The Royal Canadian Air Force is in the market for a lower yield bomb that will reduce unintended harm caused to civilian bystanders and their property.

“Low collateral damage bombs” are the latest trend in smart bomb technology and they pack a much smaller punch than conventional bombs.

Developed by the U.S. navy, the BLU-126/B bomb was first used in 2007 by American forces in Iraq. A new take on the 1960s vintage 500-pound Mark 82 dumb bomb — so called because it simply falls to the ground without a guidance system — the new bomb contains only a fraction of the normal explosive payload.

A standard Mark 82 contains between 87 and 90 kilograms of tritonal high explosive — a mixture of TNT and aluminum powder — while the low-damage version contains between 12 and 13.5 kilos. The rest of the cavity is filled with an inert material.

Both versions can be equipped with precision GPS-guided targeting systems, which can guide bombs to within inches of their targets.

“We are currently exploring the suitability and availability of weapons that could provide the RCAF with improved low-collateral damage capabilities,” said Captain Matt Zalot, a spokesman for the Department of National Defence.

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While no decisions have been made about which bomb system to purchase, he said, the search is on.

“The goal of this research is to determine the feasibility of acquiring precision guided weapons that can effectively destroy intended military targets while significantly reducing damage to surrounding areas,” he said.

Adding a low-damage bomb to the RCAF’s arsenal makes good sense, said Randall Wakelam, a history professor at the Royal Military College of Canada in Kingston.

“You’re not there to blow up the country,” he said. “You’re there to stop bad guys from hurting good guys.”

Prof. Wakelam said that the new bombs would likely be used to strike high-value targets in urban areas without levelling the neighbourhood.

“If you have a GPS-guided weapon that’s going to get there, then how much blast force do you need in that weapon?” he said. “The kinetic effect of the thing hitting the vehicle is almost all you need for something small.”

The general trend in air warfare since the Vietnam War has been a movement toward greater accuracy, said Rob Huebert, associate director at the University of Calgary’s Centre for Military and Strategic Studies.

More accurate bombs require “less bang,” he said, which is helpful in today’s social context where the Internet and social media amplify public reaction to civilian casualties.

“You don’t want collateral damage,” he said. “You don’t want to go after the bad guy and take out 20 surrounding innocents.”